The Dynamic Taser
by BasilioBoy777
Summary: An original new character, in the classic tradition of Mighty Marvel! Seth Sanders was the standard geek in school, until an accident gave him superhuman abilities! Now, he uses his powers for the greater good as the Dynamic Taser!
1. Average

**The Dynamic Taser**

Chapter 1: Average

_Man, this sucks_.

"Where's my Bio homework, Sanders?"

"I . . . uh . . . I'll have it for you by next period, Ryan."

"You'd better, if you know what's good for ya. I got better things to do than waste time on homework or getting you to do mine for me."

_Yeah, like trying to figure out what rhymes with 'flannel.'_

Seth Sanders was pinned to his locker by Ryan Redger, as per their usual daily ritual after 2nd Period. Ryan had Seth lifted completely off his feet, legs dangling a good four inches off the ground as Ryan held Seth's backpack around the shoulder straps. The feeling was quite unpleasant, to say the least, and not just because Ryan's spiked leather wrist bracelets were digging into the back of Seth's neck. Of course, none of the other passing students stopped to help Seth, or even acknowledged that he needed any. Apparently being a New Yorker starts early. Thankfully though, Ryan apparently was bored with his threats for the moment and dropped Seth to his feet with an unceremonial thud.

"Later, dweeb." He walked off toward his next class, his feet dragging like a Neanderthal. "And you'd better not forget what you owe me come 5th Period."

Legs wobbly from the sudden drop, Seth choked on his own breath from being nearly strangled by his own overladen backpack. He adjusted his glasses and watched Ryan as he walked away, staring daggers at the back of him.  
>To Seth, Ryan couldn't have looked more like a thug. His brown hair was long and stringy, and his bangs nearly covered his cold black eyes most of the time. His blue jeans were ragged and baggy, with multiple tears in them. His red flannel shirt had its sleeves torn off at the shoulder, covering a solid black t-shirt with a white skull on it wearing an army helmet. His cheap tennis shoes were worn, and their shoelaces were never tied, and Seth assumed this was because the moron never learned how to tie them. His spiked bracelets were a favorite trademark of Ryan's; he never quite brandished them as weapons, but he did know they made him more threatening, and that's what he was going for.<p>

Seth, on the other hand, considered himself more mainstream in terms of appearance. He saw himself as pitifully average in every way, despite himself. His hair was a light brown and unkempt but not unruly. His jeans and his overshirt were loose but not baggy. His shoes were comfortable but not worn out. His wristwatch was old but functional. There was nothing about Seth that made him stand out. That was depressing in a way, and Seth knew that, but he also knew that flying under the radar kept him out of more trouble than it go him into, his scuffles with Ryan excluded.

Realizing that dwelling on what a jackass Ryan is and how inevitably his own tax dollars were going to someday pay for his prison cell, Seth collected himself and dejectedly walked to his next glass, the dreaded Gym. Seth hated Gym. He wasn't terrible at it, though. He was just as average in that as he was in most everything. He just found strenuous physical activity as time wasted on better subjects, like Math and Science. He always thought much higher of intellectual pursuits, as he knew that was where real success lay in the real world. If anything, Ryan mere existence proved that. Speaking of which, Seth figured he could at least get Ryan's Bio homework done while he sat Gym out. It shouldn't take long. After all, science was his best subject. He would breeze through the entire textbook chapter assignment easily, provided there were no distractions, that is.

—

Seth hadn't been able to concentrate all period. He sat on the bleachers in the Gym while the rest of his classmates abused each other in a game of dodgeball. He had just glanced down to reread the same passage for the fourth, not retaining a single word of it. His attention was held elsewhere, on the court.

He had been watching Alicia Ayers for practically the entire period. Not unusual for him, of course, as he had practically been watching her since he could remember. They had grown up together in the same neighborhood of Key Gardens, Queens, in the same apartment building in fact. She was his oldest friend. Well, okay, she was his only friend. Their fathers worked at the same research facility, so they bonded over their mutual extensive absence. Their mothers were good friends as well, so they spent a lot of time together, almost to the point where neither of them noticed it anymore. For nearly ten years, Seth was an only child until his sister was born, so Alicia had been the only other kid he interacted with for a long time. Well, okay, not exactly. Ryan had also been around since those days too, though Seth was loathe to think on it. She had always made time for him as they grew up, even now that they were in high school, and he loved her for that. Yes, loved her. She was gorgeous, kind, smart, athletic, funny, a stunning girl in every way. Of course she would never be interested in Seth as more than friends, as average as he was. That disheartening thought brought him back to the task at hand, namely getting Ryan's homework done for him lest he pound Seth into jelly. With that, he put his nose back into his Biology textbook and his hand to his pencil.

Of course, not two minutes later, he felt another person sit down next to him. He looked up and nearly jumped at seeing Alicia's face over his shoulder, looking at his textbook.

"What are you doing homework during Gym for?" she asked.

"Uh . . . I figured I'd kill some time." He was having an even harder time talking to her than usual with her face so close to his. To his simultaneous relief and disappointment, she then leaned back against the bleachers.

"Killing time? After weaseling your way out of actually doing anything again?" she smirked. "How did you pull that off, by the way?"

"I'm allergic to the rubber that the dodgeballs are made of," Seth said with a small smile.

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Since twenty minutes ago when I made that up and told Coach Stowel."

"And he bought that?"

"Of course. He had to after all of the details I gave him, which I also made up."

"Uh-huh." She didn't sound impressed. "And I assume you bombarded him with medical terms until he got tired of hearing all those big words, so he gave you the ok just so you would shut up?"

Seth shrugged. "More or less." He took a sidelong glance at her, but then when immediately back to his book. It was difficult to look at her with a straight face while she was in those gym shorts. He must've stared a second too long though, as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You can fool him, but not me, Seth Sanders. I know you far too well for that."

"Y-yeah?" he stuttered. "W-what do mean, exactly?" A million different scenes flashed in his head when she said that, none of them appropriate for young children.

"Like I know you completed that assignment you're doing now over a week ago. Who are you doing that for?" she asked, folding her arms.

Seth buried his face further into his book. It was now too close to his face for him to read it now, but that wasn't the point. He couldn't meet her accusatory eyes right now, partly because of shame, but mostly because of their brilliant blue shade that sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.

"Is it for Ryan again?" she asked, but it sounded more like a statement. When Seth said nothing, she huffed in irritation. "Seth, why do you still let that jerk push you around like that?"

"I don't like confrontations," he answered from inside his book.

"No duh. I've been pulling him off your back since Day One for you."

"No you haven't," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Not since Day One since I am two months older than you," he looked over the top of his book.

She sent him a look that shut him up instantly. She then grabbed the book out of his hands, closed it loudly, and slammed it down on his lap hard enough to cause him to wince.

"Well you need to get used to confrontations, Seth. When are you gonna stand up for yourself and be a man?"

He looked at her briefly. Again with the images.

"Why can't that ogre do his own homework anyway?"

"Because he and his piss-poor awful band are busy trying to write the next great Grunge hit. Problem is, that movement ended fifteen years ago, and they sound about as melodious as a family of howler monkeys. But maybe they're going for that."

She giggled a little. God, he loved that sound. Now _that_ was melodious.

"Well, you're funnier than most people," she said. "At least you have that going for you."

He smirked a little.

"That's what I like to see," she said. "I'm tired of you moping all the time."

Seth was about to say something when he was cut off by the coach's ear-piercing whistle.

"Alright, period's over! Locker rooms, now!"

Seth huffed in disappointment, and oddly enough to him, so did Alicia.

"Well," he started, "I'd better move quick, so I can dodge everyone else in that inhuman hall of embarrassment." He quickly grabbed his things and sat up. He held out his hand for Alicia to take so he could help her up, which she did. His pulse nearly doubled in that brief instant as he helped her to her feet. He hoped she didn't notice it.

"Same here," she said. "You don't even want to know what kind of things are said in there. It'd kill all your brain cells." After a brief pause, she added, "So, I'll see you and your family later tonight?"

"Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel." It was nothing short of miraculous that he was able to keep his voice straight.

"'Kay, then. Bye." She gave him a small wave and turned to go to the girls' locker room, her blonde hair dancing behind her.

Seth watched her briefly as she left. Seriously, these images needed to stop.

—

Later that evening, Seth was back at his home apartment. His family had just finished dinner and had already cleaned up, although he, his father, and his mother were still sitting around the kitchen table. His father, Alan, was reading over some paper from work, half-listening to his son and wife's conversation. Seth's little sister, Britney, was watching some stupid kid show or another in the living room, clutching her favorite stuffed pink bear in a vicegrip.

"So, what's new at school today?" Seth's mother, Kaitlin, asked him.

"Not much to report, honestly," he replied. "I got that paper on _Animal Farm_ back from Ms. Schies."

His mother waited for a second. "And?"

He shrugged. "She said it was one of the better ones she's seen in years. No big deal." And it wasn't to him. He didn't give much thought to his academic ability. Growing up in this family, he assumed that was standard.

His mother smiled. "Well, that's _some_ good news. Lucky for you that you got some help on that one. Anything else?"

He hated it when she prodded like this. "Not really," he said, trying to brush off her interrogation. He started into an absent-minded report like he always did, just to get her off his back. "English was fine because of that paper, Math was fairly simple, Bio was okay, though History was a little hectic 'cause it was dark while we were watching that World War II documentary while I was trying to rush through Ryan's Bio home—"

"What?" she cut in sharply.

Seth immediately snapped back to attention as he realized he just said too much. "Uh, what I mean is, I was just checking it for him, and—"

"Seth . . ." his mother sighed.

"Fine. So I was doing his homework for him again. What's the big deal?"

His mother rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "Why?"

"It's a this-for-that kind of deal. I do his homework for him so he can waste all his time trying to write songs for his stupid band."

"And just what do you get from him in return, pray tell?"

"Um . . ." Seth stalled. He was trying to come up with a believable and at least semi-ethical lie, but his mother's boring eyes gave him the uncomfortable feel that she was telepathically prying his mind. "Let's just say 'smaller hospital bills,' and leave it at that."

His mother looked at him with shock. "Is Ryan still giving you trouble at school?"

Seth looked off to his side. "That's one way of putting it."

His father put down the paper he was reading and took off his glasses. "That Redger boy again? That does it, I'm going to have a chat with his father." Apparently, he had been paying attention after all.

"That's not really necessary, Dad."

"At this point, yes, it is," he replied. He looked at his watch for a second. "It's on my way anyway. His dad should be starting his late-night custodial shift at the lab shortly, and I have to go back real quick and check on a project." He stood up.

"Really, Dear?" His mother asked. "Now?"

"Yes, now," he answered. "I promise it won't take long. An hour, round trip, tops." He bent over to kiss her goodbye. Seth suddenly became very interested in the magnets on the fridge.

"Alright, fine," she relented as she kissed him back. Alan rarely didn't follow through on his promises, and although he didn't usually spend too much time at work, they all knew this project was important.

"Be right back," Alan said as he went out the door.

"Bye, Daddy!" Britney called from the living room, her eyes never leaving the TV screen.

Seth tried not to look his mother in the eye. With the momentary distraction of his father's departure, he thought he had just dodged a bullet. He was wrong.

"What am I going to do with you, Seth?"

Seth looked back at his mother. "Meaning what?"

"What I have told you about standing up for yourself? Especially with Ryan?"

"Yeah, yeah," Seth brushed her off. "Why do you and everybody else harp on me about this? Isn't it my problem?"

"It's my problem too! I'm your mother, and your problems are your family's problems. And I harp on you about it because it's wrong and not just the cheating. It's wrong that you allow this to continue without doing anything about it. If you sit by and do nothing, what are you going to do about anything? You have real potential, son, and I hate to see you waste it on lethargy. I want you to do something with it. You could really make a difference for yourself and for others if you honestly tried."

Seth rolled his eyes. If he had a nickel for every time she gave him this schpeal, he could afford a solid gold Xbox. "So I don't have any immediate direction. So sue me. You know the reason that I don't do anything about Ryan is that I don't have the power to. He's way bigger and stronger than I am, and I don't have any leverage to use against him. What am I supposed to do?"

"There's no doubt that you're smarter than he is."

"Yeah, well, when that starts to matter, I'll give you a call."

"Honey, power doesn't always mean physical strength. There are other ways of handling this, you know," she said knowingly. When Seth looked like he didn't understand, she continued. "And even if you had 'power', what then? What would you do with it?"

Seth shrugged, ignoring her question. "Why do you always dump that 'change the world' bit on me anyway? If you really wanted to make a difference in the world and all that jazz, then why did you quit being a prosecuting attorney?"

She folded her arms and looked at him with an expression that Seth could not quite identify. "Because when I became a mother, I felt it was more important to make a difference in _your_ world." She smirked at him. "You know that saying, 'the hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world.'"

He looked at her quizzically.

She smiled. "You'll understand someday, sweetheart. I believe in you."

Seth sighed, lightening up a little. "Yeah, thanks, Mom."

He decided he should let it go for the time being, and he glanced over his shoulder into the living room to see what Britney was watching. She was watching _Aladdin_ on DVD, and it had just come to the part when Jafar was trying to find the "diamond in the rough" that he needed. As a kid, Seth didn't get what that meant, and no doubt Britney didn't either; she just liked Princess Jasmine. But even now, Seth still didn't really comprehend what that movie was talking about. He always figured it was some nonsense saying that the creators had made up for the movie.

While Seth turned away to watch TV, his mother continued to eye him behind his back as if she knew something he didn't. "You know," she said to the back of his head, "Alicia believes in you too."

That brought Seth out of his reverie. He snapped his head around. "What?"

"Nothing." She paused. "What's she been up to lately?"

Seth looked away. "H-how should I know?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I just thought you would . . ."

Seth really didn't like that knowing look in his mother's eye. Before his suspicious hesitation prolonged enough for her to probe further, at that moment, the front door opened, and speak of devil, Alicia walked in.

"Hey, all! How's life?"

Such an unceremonious entrance didn't bother them in the slightest. As close as their two families had been, nobody of either party ever bothered to knock, and such a formality was considered unnecessary. After all, they said that the best of friends never had to do that. If nothing else, Seth could appreciate that kind of familiarity with her of all people.

Britney, shaken from the entrancing spell that the TV had her under, turned around excitedly. "Hi, Ali!"

With Alicia's welcome interruption, Seth breathed a sigh of relief from being released from his mother's interrogation, but also took in a new breath of anxiety at all the possible paths her presence could take the conversation. He looked back at his mother from the corner of his glasses. "There, you can ask her yourself."

Seth couldn't quite identify the expression on his mother's face now, and that greatly unnerved him. Now he was convinced that she was reading his mind.

Alicia waved at the two of them in the kitchen as she strode into the living room. "Oooh, what'cha watching, Brit?" she said as she sat down next to her on the floor and the two began talking. Seth noticed that they conversation quickly switched to one of whispering, and the paranoia in him allowed his imagination to run wild as to what their topic was. If Britney told her about that piece of paper he had written that she found yesterday, he doubted he would survive the night.

Seth's mother said nothing more to him and got up to join her daughter and Alicia in the living room on the couch.

"So, Alicia," Kaitlin said, "how have you been? Anything new with you today?"

"You know, same old. Bored. Kinda lonely. You know, all by myself in that big empty apartment. So I figured I'd come and visit you guys."

"John and Marla each pulling another double shift at the hospital?"

Alicia sighed. "Yeah, they both pretty much live there now. I swear, they sleep more in the on-call room then they do at home. I mean, they _are_ both attendings now, so guess that's what they have to do now, but I dunno . . ." She slumped back into the couch.

Kaitlin patted Alicia's arm. "No, they don't really _have_ to do that. They just choose to, for their own reasons, which I'm sure they have thought out. I'm sure they want to be there for you more often, they just feel they can't as much anymore. I've talked with Marla quite a few times about that, you know, so she knows what I think, but she has the right to do what she feels is best. Tell me, Alicia, have you ever talked to them about what you think about their working all the time? Have you ever directly told them you wish they didn't work as much?"

Alicia shrugged. "Not really. It's kinda hard to bring that up at all, you know. Not to mention they're hardly around enough to us to have a real conversation anymore."

Kaitlin put her arm around Alicia's shoulder in a small hug. "Well, keep trying, dear. And you know that you can tell me anything. And that you are _always_ welcome here."

Alicia smiled as she hugged Kaitlin back. "Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Seth was still uncomfortable about watching Alicia and his mother during their heart-to-heart. He was glad that Alicia had someone to confide in, he just wasn't sure yet what he felt about that someone being his own mother. At any rate, that was something for another time. Nonetheless, he was thankful that the focus was no longer on him, so Seth figured he would quietly slip out of the kitchen and into his own room. His mother's incessant questioning of him left him far too self-conscious to speak to Alicia at the moment, and he figured he would be better off right now in a place where the conversation had a considerably less chance to devolving into one about Barbies. He quietly and slowly got up from his chair, not drawing attention to his movements. He started to turn toward the hallway, careful not to make a sound.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

So much for his budding career as a ninja.

Seth turned back toward the living room to see both his mother and Alicia humorously looking at him with their arms folded and tapping their fingers. When the two of them synchronized like that, it terrified him beyond the capacity of human language.

"Come on, son, you weren't going to be a recluse now, were you?"

"Well . . . I figured you would all rather have some girl time, or whatever, and I thought that—"

Alicia waved her hand. "Nothing of the sort. Now quit being a stick-in-the-mud and come in here!"

She scooted to her left, making a spot on the couch between herself and his mom. Seth stared at that spot like a deer caught in headlights.

_There is no conceivable way in Heaven or in Hell that this could possibly end well._

Out of both excuses and rational thought, Seth meandered in the living room, compelled by a power not his own. As he semi-reluctantly took the spot on the couch between his mother and the girl of his dreams, he was quite certain that he would shortly be dead from heart failure. The looks that all three of them were giving him, none of which he felt comfortable to dwell on, were not helping to alleviate that belief. Using every last scrap of willpower within him, he miraculously managed to put together a coherent sentence.

"A-and just w-what did you, um, have i-in mind . . . ?"

Okay, mostly coherent.

"MARIO KART!" Britney exclaimed the title of her favorite video game, jumping into the air.

Normally, his little sister's utter lack of tact and mood awareness were annoying to the point of sometimes being physically painful, now, for Seth, it was nothing short of a godsend. He would have jumped at any suggestion to get him out of that quagmire of shyness that he was just stuck in, including putting up with watching a movie about personality devoid but still physically attractive vampires.

"Good idea, Brit. I'll get the Wii out."

As he hastily got up, he saw Alicia and his mom exchange another look that unnerved him to his core, but he was too involved in extricating himself from his embarrassment to dwell on it. Still, has he got more comfortable, he didn't even dwell on his embarrassment as it evaporated. Within a few minutes of playing with everyone, he loosened up to the point where he could utter more than five words at a time. And although he was normally very good at video games, he wasn't doing that good tonight, and Britney was kicking his sorry butt. Every time he moved his arm just a little bit to his left, he bumped into a certain someone, causing him to lose his concentration, which in turn caused his character to careen off the nearest edge. His score was low, but at least his spirits were high, and all in all, he thought this night wasn't that bad after all.


	2. Confrontation

**The Dynamic Taser**

Chapter 2: Confrontation

Seth felt pretty good today. He was whistling the opening theme to _Star Wars_ to himself while putting his books away in his locker after school. He had aced another Chemistry quiz on thermodynamics, solved a complex Calculus problem that not even the teacher could figure out, and most astounding of all, actually ran a few laps in Gym after decided not to go with that rehearsed story about perspiration-induced pre-mortem rigimortis. Shame. He knew Coach Stowel would have bought it too.

He was so absorbed in his rare feeling of contentment that he didn't notice Ryan creep up behind him until Ryan slammed his fist into the adjacent locker. There goes a peaceful afternoon.

"You think you're better than me, Sanders?" he growled.

Seth was taken aback by Ryan's sudden appearance, and took a second to collect himself. He looked at Ryan quizzically; he wasn't making any sense, or at least less sense than usual. It looked to him that Ryan was wearing the same ugly and dirty outfit from yesterday, right down to the mustard stain on his shirt. Seth just assumed that Ryan hated doing laundry. Or bathing. The only thing that was noticeably different about the obnoxious troll today was that his overshirt's collar was turned up around his face and his stringy bangs were covering his eyes that Seth couldn't even see them.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ryan."

"Don't you? You rat me out and that's it?"

Seth could only stare at him. _I didn't think it was possible, but I think he's actually getting dumber._

"Tell you what I'm gonna do for you, Sanders. You get me the answers to the rest of the Bio tests this year, and I'll let this lapse in judgment of yours slide."

Seth closed his locker slowly, buying himself a little time to think this over. He set his backpack down on the floor and looked Ryan in the eyes, er, bangs.

"Forget it, Redger. Figure it out for yourself."

Ryan snarled. "What'd you say to me, Sanders?"

Seth straightened his shoulders, holding his ground. "You heard me, Redger. Do your own work from now on. Maybe it will make you less stupid."

Ryan growled as he picked up Seth by his shirt collar and slammed him into his locker behind him. Seth guessed he might've just pushed his luck too far this time.

"You're dead, Sanders," Ryan threatened him in a tone serious enough that it actually scared Seth. Seth saw Ryan pull his fist back and was not hopeful about the next few minutes.

"Hey! Put him down, jerkwad!"

Both Seth and Ryan turned to see Alicia standing in the hallway, looking furious.

"What's it to you, Ayers?" His tone was slightly less harsh for some reason.

"I said put him down!"

Ryan let go of Seth's collar and dropped him. Seth was barely able to retain enough of his balance to stay on his feet. He tried to look nonchalant about it while dusting himself off, but didn't go too well about it. Thankfully, neither set of eyes was on him at the moment. Alicia was glaring daggers at Ryan, and Ryan's eyes were still obscured by his bangs.

"Happy now, princess?"

Alicia got beside Seth and looked Ryan down. "What's your damage, Ryan?"

Ryan looked slightly apprehensive about that remark for some reason. "Why are you always hanging around with this loser anyway?"

Seth was actually anxious to hear her answer to that. He stole a glance at her from his side. Her glare at Ryan was unflinching.

"Why are _you_ always bothering him? Don't you have something better to do, you Neanderthal?"

A somewhat disappointing response, but at least she didn't say something along the lines of pity.

"As a matter of fact, I do have something better to do." His mouth twisted into a wicked grin. He leaned forward, putting his palm against the locker on Alicia's side opposite Seth. Both of them tensed at this sudden intrusion of her personal space. "Why don't you ditch the dork and me and you go do something fun? What'd ya say, beautiful?"

Alicia's response was immediate. She narrowed her eyes in pure disgust. "Not even if the survival of the human race depended on it."

Ryan's grin quickly turned into a grimace. He leaned back. "Hmph. Whatever. As if I would want Sandbag's sloppy seconds anyway."

Without warning, Seth took a furious swipe at Ryan with his fist. Ryan may have been slow of mind, but he was quick of body enough to barely move his head fast and far enough to dodge Seth's punch. Seth ended up connecting only with Ryan's hair, brushing it slightly. As his bangs moved, Alicia and Seth saw that Ryan's left eye was heavily bruised.

When Ryan heard Alicia's gasp, he quickly covered his black eye and gritted his teeth angrily. "You saw nothing!"

"Ryan, what happened to you?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah, man, how did you get that black eye?" Seth added, his momentary rage subsided due to this revelation.

Ryan turned his remaining good eye on Seth in pure hatred. "You should know, Sanders! It's your fault!"

"But I—"

"And now I'm gonna kill you for it!" Ryan lunged at Seth in full fury.

"Alright! That's enough!"

Ryan hadn't gotten three inches when that booming voice rang out. The three of them turned to see Mr. Mecailic, the school principle, rapidly walking toward them.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Ryan backed off and let his arms go limp. "Nuthin', teach. Just having a friendly chat."

"If you think I'm dumb enough to believe that, Mr. Redger, then you have even less respect for me than I thought. And what's with your eye?"

Ryan made what could only be called a "tch"-ing sound and looked away.

Mr. Mecailic stared at Ryan for a brief moment. "Fine. We'll sort this out in my office. Move it, Mr. Redger. You know the way."

Ryan sized up Mr. Mecailic. He wasn't particularly large of stature, but his stone face and stern voice were more than enough to curb even the most troublesome students, Ryan included. He took one last menacing glare at Alicia and Seth. "This isn't over, Sanders. Let's see if you still think you're so much better than me after something important is taken away from _you_."

Seth looked quizzically back at Ryan. He still had no idea what he was going on about. That deadly look in Ryan's eye was darker than usual, and it worried Seth.

"It's over now. Go, Mr. Redger!" Mr. Mecailic pointed down the hall.

Ryan grunted indifferently and turned to go. Just when Seth thought this particular ordeal was done with, Mr. Mecailic rounded on him.

"And as for you, Mr. Sanders . . ."

"Sir, I didn't—"

"I know you didn't, young man."

Seth breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"And I know why you took a swing at Mr. Redger too. You normally don't cause any trouble, Mr. Sanders, so I won't reprimand you this time. But if there _is_ a next time, try a more nonviolent means, will you?"

Seth nodded meekly. "Yes, sir."

"Very good then." He nodded slightly at Seth before turning to Alicia. "And Ms. Ayers, I hope this incident hasn't disturbed you too much?"

Alicia shook her head. "No, sir. I'm fine."

Mr. Mecailic nodded one more time. "In that case, I'll see you both in class on Monday. Good day to you both." He turned and walked back to his office to deal with Ryan.

After a moment, Alicia sighed in relief. "Well, that was an ordeal." She turned to Seth, and slightly tugged at his sleeve. "Let's go home now, ok?"

Her touch brought Seth out of his temporary shock and back to reality. "Er, yeah."

Their walk home was considerably quieter than normal, especially for Alicia. For once, Seth was thinking about Ryan instead of the girl next to him. How did he get that black eye? But more importantly, what the heck was he ranting about taking something away from him?

"Hey, Seth?"

Alicia's voice brought him out of his train of thought. "Huh?"

"I'm really proud of you for standing up for yourself to Ryan today."

Seth grinned sheepishly. "Thanks. It was nothing really."

"Mind if I ask what brought about this new attitude?"

"Uh, well . . ." Seth scratched the back of head, trying to put the words in his head into a way that wouldn't sound too corny. "I just finally thought you and my mom were right about me doing the right thing for a change, and that I can't keep letting people push me around anymore if I'm gonna do any real good for anyone."

She smiled. "Good, cause we're always right, you know."

He smiled back. "Well, in that case I'd better make this a regular thing then, huh?"

"Couldn't hurt."

They continued their walk back to their apartment building in a comfortable and happy silence for a while.

"Oh, and Seth?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for standing up for me too."

He blushed slightly. "D-don't mention it."

As Seth thought to himself that he should definitely do that more often, he noticed that Alicia was walking just a little bit closer to him. He was on cloud nine.

—

Later that evening, Seth's night had been relatively normal. After dinner, Seth retired to his room to get some homework done when his mother called him from the kitchen saying the phone was for him. He would rather not have been bothered with anything at the moment, until his mom told him it was Alicia. He quickly picked up the spare wireless he had in his room. It turned out that she was calling about a math assignment from her Pre-Cal class, which Seth had already taken last year, so it was pretty ease to walk her through each trigonometric equation. It was also lucky for him that she called, as he was having trouble with analyzing that set of poems for English class, and it didn't help that they were by Emily Dickenson either. That was the system that they had set up, they covered each others weaknesses with their own strengths. Seth was good at sciences and mathematics, a real left-brain type; and Alicia was adept at the liberal arts; more of a right-brain type. They complemented each other quite well in that respect, something that was not lost on Seth. For the time being though, Seth was concerning himself with their conversation. He always found it easier to talk to her during these times. It mostly had to do with that he was getting a chance to talk enthusiastically about a topic he was vested in, but also partly because she wasn't actually in the room with him to get him all flustered and stuttering.

"Thanks for the help," Alicia said to him over the phone.

"Anytime, and thanks for yours too."

"Well, I'm gonna see if some of the other girls are up to tonight, so see ya later!"

"Bye then." They both hung up.

His assignments finished, or at least his tolerance for them, Seth decided to switch over to another mindless activity of his: _World of Warcraft_. Sure, it was probably the dorkiest thing a person can do outside of _Dungeons & Dragons_ (Seth's set for that was in his closet, and to his credit, he hadn't touched it in years), but it gave him another outlet for his otherwise crippling lack of social skills. He logged on to his Human Paladin character, LordOfLightAndArt87, and went about the town of Ironforge that he was in. Soon after he started, he was messaged by another character in the game, LordOfDanceAndSorrow44:

"What's up, friend? Haven't seen u in a while."

Seth replied:

"Been busy. Got some time to kill now tho. Switch to TeamSpeak, normal ch?"

A moment passed before Seth saw the reply message:

"Sure. Give me a sec."

Seth put on his headset and set up the TeamSpeak device. He always liked that better because he could keep his fingers on his controls, and he could actually hear the other person's voice. "Got mine all ready. How 'bout you?" he said into the headset.

A young man's voice came back through the headset. "I'm good. Let's do this."

Admittedly, Seth did not know much about the person behind the screen name LordOfDanceAndSorrow. He never gave his real name out, and neither did Seth. Internet anonymity was funny that way. From his voice, Seth could tell that this guy was a young man, probably somewhere around his own age. He seemed to like a lot of things that Seth did: all the standard nerd-type things, like comic books, _Star Wars_, video games, and all that good stuff. They got along fine, for Internet friends; they didn't know each other's real names, but their friendship was a bit better than being on each other's Facebook page and never saying anything. Seth liked him okay. He wasn't about to give his PIN number to the guy, but he knew he wouldn't exactly ever have to get Chris Hansen involved either.

In the game, LordOfDanceAndSorrow's character, a Night Elf Ranger, appeared in front of Seth's character.

"So what're you up for, the Tower of Azora? Or do you want to try the Burrow Dens again?" Seth heard his friend's voice over the headset.

"I'm good for whichever. Anybody else gonna join us?"

"Nah. You're the only person I know in this thing. You, and you know, _her_."

"Yeah, same here. I try not to get too involved in this thing so it doesn't consume my life. It's not like I would flip out if my mom ever canceled my account." Seth chuckled.

His friend laughed a little back. "I just make take offense to that, you know, because I might do that myself. Not like I have much else going on for me."

Seth mentally sighed. He had always gotten the sense from this guy that he was a bit of a shut-in. He never directly said so, much less why, but Seth was afraid he was this guy's only contact with the outside world. It always seemed like he was always on this game, whenever Seth decided to log-on once in a while. "So let's go."

"Whatever you're doing, count me in." Another voice came over the channel, female. It was Alicia!

"What the heck are you doing still around?" Seth asked, dumbfounded, but pleasantly so. She must've tuned into their TeamSpeak line. They all always used the same channel. "I thought you said you were gonna do something with your other friends?"

"Nah. They all decided to stay in and watch the newest episode of _Jersey Shore_."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because that show gives me headaches. This seemed like a better use of my time. Besides, I'd rather do something semi-fun with you if I'm going to be rotting my brain."

Seth was ecstatic that she'd said that. Before he could realign his brain synapses so he could form a coherent response, his friend cut in.

"Dude, don't push it. If a girl wants to play with us, I say let her. I personally find it refreshing."

"Thanks, mystery guy," Alicia said back. "That's kind of sweet, in a geeky sort of way, I guess."

Seth coughed loudly into the headset. "So then, shall we?"

Seth and LordOfDanceAndSorrow joined with Alicia's character, a Human Sorceress PrincessOfFashion95, and wasted about an hour on their computers that night. Seth thought it was awesome that she actually not only didn't think his fondness for video gaming wasn't stupid, but that she actually indulged in it with him a little. He could always tell that she wasn't all that into this sort of thing, but as long as it gave him something else to do with her without him feeling like a total nerd, he wasn't going to complain.

—

It was close to midnight, and Seth couldn't sleep. It was still riding the high from playing that game with Alicia and their friend from earlier. Every so often, he would smile goofily to himself, his mind wandering to possibilities. At any rate though, he felt it best that if his was going to be up this late, it might as well be at least a little productive. He was out of new comic books to read, so he felt he was in the mood for something more intellectually stimulating.

He went to his father's home office, picked the key from off the top of the door frame, and unlocked it. He entered, flicked on the light, and looked around. Seth found what he was looking for right on his father's desk: the notes to his current project. He had been reviewing it earlier that evening, which would explain why it wasn't filed away yet. Seth took the folder and went back to his room. Seth had a habit of looking at his father's work from time to time because of his interest in science. His father's professional work was of the caliber that challenged Seth, contrasting with his normally boring and easy schoolwork.

Lying back on his bed, Seth opened his father's folder and began reading it. It was entitled "Project: Zeus." It was the latest effort to abandon their previous reputation as a waste-producer and develop a clean energy at Rexton Laboratories, where Seth's father worked as a researcher. As Seth flipped through the numerous pages of the current status report, he was very intrigued by the concept. They were attempting to create a device that could absorb and harness ambient static electricity in the environment and distribute it amongst various channels in the power grid. The key was generating enough power. Theoretically, nature did this itself naturally, the product being lightning. After all, a bolt of lightning was nothing more than a large atmospheric discharge of static electricity. The centrifuges at the top of the room-sized device spun at rate fast enough to gather electricity from the air, as well as generate some power itself. The entire device was meticulously constructed to posses a positive charge as well, in order to increase the pull on negatively charged free electrons in the area and valence electrons from nearby matter. The problem, however, was creating a container for all that power. A bolt of lightning contained enormous electrical force (Seth chuckled a little as a scene of Doc Brown flashed in his head describing just how much wattage), so much that it could not be contained by any man-made device they had tried thus far. Furthermore, containing the energy long enough for distribution was also a hindrance, as the charge was just as likely to dissipate from whence it came if balanced by the earth's natural magnetic field.

Seth thought the problem over himself. A metal device likely wouldn't work too well, as its strong conductivity would lend to the static electricity dissipating. Inorganic materials like rubber or plastic wouldn't work either, as their nonconductive properties would hinder distribution to an electric grid. An organic substance would then be the best choice, thought Seth, but it was unfortunately terribly impractical. A power container made of cotton or wool? The very notion was ludicrous. Still, he was reminded of the power of static electricity with wool socks and a fluffy new carpet. And certainly a living battery of organic tissue was downright impossible; this wasn't Mary Shelly's _Frankenstein_ after all. Seth could see the dilemma his was father was in here. He was on the cusp of a breakthrough. If they could only overcome this last obstacle, then the project would be a success and the idea could potentially revolutionize energy production. The concept was even lucrative enough for the whole family to be set for generations if this could be pulled off. And it had to be, seeing as all of the money the R&D department had sunk into this project. Looking at the line item on the budget sheet, Seth cringed; it was enough to possibly bankrupt the company if it failed.

Seth continued to muse over the project when he heard voices outside his window. He glanced over at his digital clock radio. It was nearly 1 AM.

_Odd,_ he thought. _Who else is up and about at this hour? Yeah, I know this is New York City, but this neighborhood is usually quiet around now._

He got up and parted his curtains enough to take a peek outside. Four stories down, he saw a small group of people gathered around one of the dirtier ground level apartments. Seth switched his bedroom light off, both to give the impression that no one was up and to let his eyes adjust to the dark so he could see who these people were. After a few seconds, he was able to make out the bulky forms of four thuggish looking teens on bicycles. It looked like they had stopped to get their bearings. He strained his eyes a little, and was able to tell one of them was Ryan.

_Oh great. What's he doing here? That means the rest of those punks must be the rest of his stupid grunge band. I thought they practiced someplace else._

Seth was about to ignore them and go to bed when he could have sworn he heard his own name. It was still somewhat muffled, so he opened the window a crack to hear better.

"You sure this is the way, Ryan?" one of them said.

"Yeah, I'm sure Kyle. This is the only way out to the part of the city where the lab is."

_ The lab? What would he want at the lab?_

"What are we doing this for again?" another boy asked.

"To bring that stupid Sanders kid and his dad down from their pedestals, Max. Maybe then they won't think they're better than guys like us any more. When I wreck whatever big important thing they're working on in there, they'll get a taste what it's like at the bottom with the rest of us, where nuthin' goes right."

_What? He's gonna ruin Project: Zeus! That'll send Dad's research back months, even years! And I don't wanna think about what that'll do the company's stock, not to mention our stake in it!_

Seth watched Ryan and his cronies take off out of the neighborhood and toward the city. He wondered about what he should do. Almost without thinking, he put his street clothes from that day back on and dashed out the door. He went down to the street and unlatched his own bike. Quickly mounting it, he took off after them.

_I'm not going to let you get away with this, Ryan! I'm through taking all your crap! No more! I'm not gong to let you hurt my family! I'm going to stop you myself!_


	3. Accident

**The Dynamic Taser**

Chapter 3: Accident

Seth had lost more time than he thought. He was never able to catch Ryan and his gang, but at least he knew where they were going. He got to Rexton Laboratories around 2:00 AM. Rexton Labs was closer to Manhattan proper, but still within the Queens borough. As he peddled up to the lab building, he could see Ryan's and his goons' bikes off to the side of the building, leaning against an electric panel.

_Shoot! They beat me here faster than I thought._

Seth got off his bike and laid it off to the side. He took in the large laboratory building as he walked up to it. Rexton Labs was a subsidiary of Rexton International, a large pharmaceutical company that had hands in most other scientific research fields, particularly those in physics and chemistry. The owner of the entire conglomerate was Charles Rexton, and he was one of the wealthiest people in the world, right up there with those two computer geeks and that jerk with the bad toupee. From what Seth had seen of him on news reports and such, he seemed like a real jerk-like business type, only interested in the bottom line and everything else. At times, he seemed too serious though. There was never any kind of scandal about him at any point in the news. Seth supposed that was a good thing in a way, but the guy seemed almost emotionless. When Seth reached the door, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and return to the task at hand.

The front door was locked again, and Seth wondered for a moment as to how Ryan had gotten inside without breaking anything to triggering an alarm. There was an access panel to the right of the door that controlled the lock, although there was a key slot in the handle as a backup. Seth smirked; thankfully, he knew the code. His father had offhandedly mentioned it to him one day a few summers back when he had asked him about what his parents were going to do for their anniversary. His dad said at one point that he had to assure there was a way to remind himself of when that was on a regular basis so he wouldn't forget and suffer Seth's mom's wrath. So he made his access code the date of their wedding so he would have to remember it. Smiling to himself at his father's own goofiness as well as his ingenuity at such an idea, Seth entered the eight-digit code into the access panel: 0-8-1-6-1-9-9-1. The door beeped and Seth heard the audible *click* that meant the door successfully unlocked. Seth opened it cautiously and slid inside, doing his best not to make a sound, closing the door quietly behind him.

Seth's eyes had to adjust to the darkness for a minute. He mentally pseudo-cursed himself for forgetting to bring a flashlight in his haste to catch Ryan. He was beginning to think that he hadn't thought this through that well. The lobby he was in was empty, so that squad of thugs must've gone on already. He just hoped that he wasn't too late yet.

Using his hands to feel around, Seth crept slowly across the lab floor. He went from room to room silently, intently listening for some sign of life other than himself. The first floor was clear, so he moved on to the rest of the building. As he passed a room on the fourth floor, he thought he heard movement. Bracing himself for what lay beyond that door, he quickly flew it open and dashed inside, ready to confront his foe. He was instead greeted by the squeaking of a dozen mice in cages.

_Well, that was anti-climatic._

Seth was about to turn and leave when he noticed that some of these lab mice were way larger than they were supposed to be. His scientific curiosity temporarily overpowering his senses of purpose and reason, Seth moved to take a closer look. The altered mice were nearly twice the size of the others. It wasn't just a size difference either. They looked like they had more developed musculature as well. There was a folder on the table in front of the mice cages, so Seth opened it and looked at some of the notes inside. According to the data, the mice were being treated with a new performance enhancement drug that was commissioned by the United States military called muscorex, and the name of the research was titled "Project: Atlas." Seth saw that by and large, the muscle enhancement phase of the serum was successful, as well as significantly amplified muscle tissue regeneration. There was even an unexpected increase in brain function and intelligence.

_Makes sense. The brain is a muscle too, after all_.

Seth tapped on the glass of one of the enhanced mice cages, only for the mouse to snarl and try and ram the glass. Seth jumped back a little and watched curiously as the mouse continued to scratch at the glass with its claws. Seth looked back at the report. Apparently, a side effect of the drug was that it also greatly increased adrenaline flow to dangerously high levels, leading to equally increased levels of aggression and violence. The initial test subjects became so strong and so vicious that the researcher had to construct new cages made out of tempered glass, like the kind used in prisons and cars. So far though, all attempts at eliminating these side effects were unsuccessful. Seth looked back over at the cage and saw the mouse still scratching at the glass. After another second or two, the mouse apparently got tired of its futile vendetta against him and laid down on the straw covering the floor of its cage.

Seth was about to turn the page to find out more about this project when he heard a voice.

"Dude, I'm telling you, I heard something over here."

_Crap! That's one of Ryan's goons!_

Suddenly remembering why the heck he was here in the first place, Seth put the folder back where he found it on the table and looked for a place to hide. As he saw a faint shadow appear in the door window, he dashed up to the door beneath the window and pressed his ear to it to hear better.

After a brief second, Seth heard another voice.

"And _I'm_ telling _you_, there's no one else here right now. It's the weekend man, all the brainiacs are gone now, and even security is lax because they haven't had any trouble in years. I should know, my worthless dad's a janitor here."

_That's Ryan's voice!_

"Now come on, we get to that big room in the center where they're keeping that stupid Frankenstein lightning machine and do what we came here to do before the next security shift gets here in an hour."

Seth nearly scoffed out loud at Ryan's comment. _"Frankenstein lightning machine?" It's a static electricity collection and distribution matrix, you brainless idiot!_ He glanced up and saw the shadow leave the window and heard footsteps become fainter as they walked down the hallway. Seth breathed a sigh of relief before getting back on task.

Seth looked around the room for something that could help him. Unfortunately, he didn't know where Project: Zeus was anymore than they did. For all his years of secretly studying his father's research, Seth had never actually been to the lab itself here before, so he had no idea where he actually was at the moment or where anything else was for that matter. Now he was really starting to think that he hadn't' thought this through well enough.

_Oh well, I'm in deep enough as it is. And a real man would see this through anyway._

He finally found a floor plan on a nearby wall detailing the fire exits. It looked like the lab that housed the large distribution machine for Project: Zeus was near the heart of the building. It took up a good-sized portion of the yardage of the facility and was nearly five stories tall. The viewing rooms around it started on the seventh floor and continued until the top floor, with a skylight above for atmospheric observation. Unfortunately, with Ryan and his goons having a steady head-start, Seth needed to get moving if he was to stop them. When he was sure they had left, he exited the Project: Atlas room and got his bearings. He went over to the elevators, and from the lighted numbers on top, he could tell that Ryan and his friends had taken it and were already on the sixth floor. Realizing that he needed to get to Project: Zeus before they did, and hoping that they were dumb enough not to know where it was, he dashed up the stairs next to the elevator.

After a tiring three flights of stairs, Seth emerged on the seventh floor. A quick glance at an empty and open elevator revealed to him that he had missed Ryan and company, but just barely. He turned down the hall and saw that the door to Project: Zeus was already ajar. He walked up to it, and saw Ryan and his friends gathered around a terminal in front of the large device, which Seth couldn't help but notice and admire it. It was a massive machine, covering the rest of the building's height and up to the skylight. Cylindrical and nearly forty feet in diameter, it was easily the largest device Seth had ever seen. It was even bigger than Seth had gleaned from his dad's blueprints. Dozens of wires, cables, and coils trailed from all sides and angles of the body, surrounded by metal plating. Before he could be fully taken in by the machine, Seth reminded himself of his mission, and threw the door fully open dramatically. It promptly hit the wall, bounced back, and slammed shut.

_Man, I suck at this._

Embarrassed, he opened to door again as stone-faced as he could muster. As he pointed an accusatory finger at Ryan, he could see that he already got everyone else's attention, as they were all staring at him. "Alright, you guys, the jig is up!"

The guy to Ryan's left turned to him. "Did that dork seriously just say that?"

"He's a goober that way," Ryan replied. He turned to Seth. "And just who's gonna stop us, tough guy? You?"

Seth looked around him. Ryan and each of his goons were dressed in their usual grunge-like attire, but with a slightly blacker tone to them, probably to help from being seen, with all of their hoodies over their heads. Ryan himself was brandishing a crowbar, holding it over his shoulder, trying to look cocky and intimidating. Max, the guy to his left, held a sledgehammer, letting it hang from his side down to the floor. The two other thugs, Kyle and Nick, each held a wooden baseball bat, slapping them against their open palms menacingly.

_Yep, I did NOT think this one through. Okay then, when in doubt, stall like your life depends on it, because now, it probably does._

"How did you guys get in here anyway? This place is restriced," Seth asked.

Ryan reached into his hoodie's waist pocked and produced a large ring of keys, at least a good fifty of them or so. "My dad's a janitor here, remember? He's got a key for every room in this dump," Ryan said as he jingled them.

"And he just gave them to you?"

Ryan smiled threateningly. "Well, he didn't _give_ them to me, as much as just did nothing as his fat sorry ass was passed out from one too many cold ones . . ." Ryan's smile then transformed into a hateful scowl. "As usual."

Max chimed in. "What about you? How did you get in?"

"I, uh, know all the codes . . ."

"Like that matters," Ryan said, stepping forward and taking the crowbar from his shoulder. "Cuz you ain't leaving."

Seth scrambled to stall some more. "What are doing here, Ryan? What could you possibly want here?"

"Payback."

"For what? Aside from earlier today, what I have ever done to you? I mean, I didn't even connect for crying out loud!"

"THAT'S NOT IT!" Ryan shouted. Even his boys seemed startled by his outburst. "I'm tired of being looked down on. By you and your stupid father. You think that you're so much better than me and my dad, just because you're more successful and smarter. Just because you have the brains and the cash doesn't make you better than me!"

Seth looked at Ryan quizzically. "Dude, what? I don't think I'm better than you for any of that stuff. I do think you're a jerk, but that's more because you've been taking my lunch money since third grade. And as for being smarter, maybe if you spent half as much time harassing me as you did actually reading a book, then maybe you could do your own homework for a change." _Holy crap, I do not believe I just said all that._

"Guys like me can't climb outta the gutter. My dad's proof of that."

"Look, that doesn't mean anything, you know . . ."

"Save it!" Ryan cut him off. "I'm done talking to you. It's high time I brought you and your dad off your pedestals. Maybe after I smash your dad's precious machine, you might learn a little something about what it's like to be down in the gutter with me." He stepped forward again, and so did his friends. "But maybe I can let off a little more steam by hurting you. Boys, make it so he can't scream."

"Hold on! You don't wanna do that!" Seth held out his hand.

"Why not?" asked Kyle.

"Because . . . I already called that cops . . . and they'll be here any minute now."

Ryan didn't look impressed. "He's bluffing. He's so scatterbrained, he probably forgot to call anybody, let alone the cops."

_Man, I DO suck at this_.

Ryan and his goons advanced on Seth some more. Seth floundered, looking around desperately for something to use. He spotted a beaker with clear liquid in it on a nearby table and grabbed it.

"Stay back! Or I'll throw this glass at you! It's full of hydrochloric acid!"

Again, Ryan didn't so much as flinch. "Really? Then why does the label on it say 'Hydrogen Peroxide?'"

Seth looked at the beaker. Ryan was right. _Man, I REALLY suck at this._

"Enough. Get 'em!"

Kyle lunged forward and swung at Seth. Seth ducked and Kyle's bat smashed a half-dozen beakers on the table next to him. Seth rolled over to his right and quickly got up. This was bad and getting worse! Realizing this was not the time for caution any longer, Seth started grabbing whatever was in reach and throwing it at his attackers. Most of them were empty beakers, with some occasional lab equipment. Kyle and the goons were able to doge or smack away everything that Seth was throwing at them. They began to close in on him. No, this was not looking good for Seth at all.

Ryan seemed quite satisfied with himself and his minions. "Well, don't have too much fun, guys. Save a piece of him for me. But first, I got something else to attend to." He turned back to the control panel and looked it over. "Looks like the dork could use some fresh air. Why don't I give it to him?" He pushed a button on the panel and the skylight on the ceiling opened, revealing the night sky.

During their time in the lab, a generous amount of dark clouds had littered the sky. It didn't look too bad, but it also looked like it could get worse at any minute. The full moon was still visible though, and the moonlight illuminated the chrome of the Zeus device. Its visage was an odd one, ominous even, with the shiny metal reflecting the pale glow of the orb in the sky. It looked like the machine had a large eyeball, and it was staring at Seth. Or rather, Seth felt like it was staring through him, in a creepy sort of accusatory way. It was almost as if it was daring him to do something. Honestly, it was one of the most unsettling things he had seen in a long time.

"Nice, isn't it?" Ryan chuckled. "You and your dad are really gonna miss it." He menacingly tapped his crowbar into his palm. He wound it up and loomed over the panel.

"NO!"

Ryan turned his head to see a desperate Seth reaching out to him, imploring him to stop. "Don't wanna see your cash-cow go bye-bye?"

"You idiot! This device is still in its experimental stages! There's no telling what will happen if you wreck it!"

Ryan's eyebrow twitched. "'Idiot?' Quit calling me stupid!" With all his fury and rage, he smashed the Zeus device control panel. Instantly, the panel began to crackle with electricity. "There! How's it feel now to see something you have destroyed?"

At that point, the electricity crackled and spread from the panel, through the cables and into the main device. It spread further, throughout the device, and moved up to the top of the machine. The sky outside turned even darker and the black clouds became much bigger over the laboratory building. Lightning flashed amongst the clouds and thunder shook the building, rattling the glass of the windows and the lab equipment.

With Kyle and the goon squad stupefied by the awing display, Seth broke free of them. Immediately, he was able to get a handle on what was happening now. "You moron! You've overloaded the system!"

The lightning outside grew more numerous and threatening. Ryan was uncharacteristically scared now. "What's going on? What's happening?"

"I just said that you overloaded the system! The chaotic fluctuating charge is attracting the lightning from outside! If one of those bolts hits the machine, it'll hit critical mass and this whole place will blow like the Fourth of July!"'

"But . . . I didn't—Arrgh!" Ryan was cut off when a small jolt of electricity shot out of the smashed panel and struck him in the chest, sending across the room and into a pile over by the door, next to his friends. His body crackled with some leftover juice.

Just then, a massive bolt of lightning struck the Zeus device, just as Seth feared. The entire room lit up with blasts of electricity shooting out in all directions from the Zeus device. Bolts struck lab tables, shattering them into piles of splinters. Every last piece of glass in the room crashed into shards, littering the floor with dangerous broken glass. Some of the lightning ignited the wooden tables, setting the lab aflame and triggering the fire alarms. Unfortunately, there were no sprinklers, due to some of the chemicals that were volatile when exposed to water. The fire spread quickly, and if they didn't leave soon, they would all be boxed in by the flame, doomed to suffer a burning demise. Seth did his very best to size up the situation.

_This has got to be the literal definition of everything going straight to hell._

Seth was frozen with real fear. It appeared as though chasing Ryan and his goons here and standing up to them had completely spent whatever courage he had left. Taking in the chaos around him, he still couldn't will his legs to move; it was as if they were made of concrete jelly, wobbly and weak, yet still unmovable and rooted to the floor.

_It looks like this is really it. I really blew it big time. I failed. I failed everyone. Dad's project is gone, and soon, I will be too. So much for me being of any good to anyone. Sorry Dad . . . Mom . . . Brit . . . Alicia . . ._

As Seth was about to resign himself to his abysmal fate, the images of his family and loved ones entered into his mind. And with their memories, came renewed strength.

_. . . No! I can't let them down! I WON'T let them down! I will not allow them to be sad because of me! This all depends on me now! And I CAN do this! I WILL do this!_

Seth slapped himself with both hands to bring him back to reality. He rounded on Kyle and the guys. "You! Get Ryan and get out of here! I'll reroute the power and feed it into the main grid to diffuse it and prevent a critical mass!"

Kyle dropped his weapon. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

Ryan stirred on the ground, the electricity still in his system, crackling about him. He struggled to lift himself up, but couldn't manage it. He reached out for Kyle. "P-please . . . H-help me!"

Kyle didn't take it. "Nothing doing, bro. Every man for himself." He ran out the door and the other two guys followed him.

Shocked and left there alone, Ryan, realizing that he had no one, mustered all the strength left in his body to climb to his feet. As he moved toward the door, he looked over his shoulder to see Seth, boldly moving toward the destroyed panel.

"We're not done yet."

With that, he limped out the door and into the hallway, which was rapidly becoming just as dangerous as the room he just escaped.

—

Seth moved with determination of spirit, if not strength of body, to get to the destroyed panel. Bolts of electricity lashed out at him from all sides. He may have gotten a few lightning burns, but Seth pressed on to the panel. When he reached it, quickly looking it over, he saw that Ryan did a good job of wrecking it; there wasn't much left of it. Most of the buttons and switches were obliterated, and Seth didn't have much left to work with. Summoning all of the knowledge he had about this device and how it worked, Seth worked to salvage this machine and his father's research, and hopefully, save his own hide as well.

He flipped the reset relay. It did nothing. The emergency shut off switch was busted beyond functionality. Seth knew his only hope was to see if he could reroute the power and distribute it throughout a larger grid. He pushed a few keys, trying to crack the override command code that would grant him access to the grid. He did crack it, and began furiously typing away at the controls, trying to get the excess power anywhere away from the lab. He was able to enter a sequence that dispersed the power into the larger grid that was connected to the city's power. Some of the electricity around him subsided, and it looked as though he succeeded. However, after about a few seconds, a red light flashed on the screen in front of him. The capacity of both the device and the grid transfer system had been reached.

_Great! Now what do I do?_

He grabbed the panel with both hands, shaking in desperation. Just then, another bolt of lightning struck the Zeus device. The power overflowed beyond capacity and traveled through all outlets of the device including the one connected to the control terminal. The power of the device flowed through it, through the connector cables, and into Seth's body. He screamed loud enough to wake the dead as every fiber of his being was filled with electric current. His body sizzled and flared with electric power, lighting up the entire building and the surrounding area. After a few seconds, the shock subsided and Seth stood there, smoking from his ordeal. He collapsed onto the floor in a charred heap. He lay there, on the outskirts of consciousness, about to pass out. If there were only some way he could will himself out of here to save his sorry butt. But it was hopeless; there was no way out and now he was down for the count. As the lab continued to collapse around him from the fire, his last thoughts of consciousness were of his family.

_Sorry, guys. I still blew it. I tried, though. I tried . . ._

—

Ryan limped through the lab building, trying to find an exit amidst the flames and smoke. His vision was starting to blur, an ailment not at all helped by the smoke. As he got to the end of the hall, he saw that both elevators were already gone. His so-called "friends" must've taken them. Friends! Ha! Some friends! They ditched him at the first sign of trouble!

_I'm gonna make them regret that_, Ryan thought to himself.

He went over to the stairwell, as that was his only remaining option. He rammed the door open with his shoulder, and staggered into the stairwell. He descended the stairs for four flights when he saw that fire had engulfed the floors still beneath him.

_Damn! All that lightning and stuff must've spread all over! This is all that waste of space's fault!_

Ryan dashed back into the hallway on the third floor. A quick glance and a blast of searing heat told him that this floor was ablaze as well. He looked around, desperate for an out. The only thing he saw that could offer any hope of salvation was a ventilation grate on the wall. Without hesitating, he kicked the grate open and dived inside the vent. Since the vent was made of metal, Ryan instantly felt like he had just jumped into an oven. He struggled as he crawled through the vent, hoping against hope to find a path that led outside. He wasn't paying careful attention where he was going, however, and as he passed over another grate latch beneath him, his weight caused it to give way and he plummeted to the levels below. The vent curved and angle a few times before he fell through another gate and landed on damp concrete.

Gathering his bearings, Ryan looked around him to see where he was. A vile and horrid smell filled his nostrils, and he gagged in surprise. It was like a dead skunk that had just vomited up a meal of rotten eggs and sauerkraut. Ryan saw in front of him several pipes, coming in up from the lab, that was pouring a mucky green substance into a stream of water running through the ground. Ryan walked up to the sludge and took a closer look at it. It looked like Nickelodeon slime mixed with toad snot.

_What the? Toxic runoff? And secret toxic runoff too! This stream probably flows out into the bay. So much for this joint going green. At least not that kinda green._

Ryan looked around the room again. There were no doors or windows. Aside from the vent through which he fell, which has high up on the ceiling now, this secret dumping room was completely sealed off. Ryan looked uncomfortably at the sludge flowing into the stream. It looked like that was his only way out. Taking one last breath, he jumped into the polluted water.

As soon as he hit the water, Ryan felt his body tingle. It was kind of like before when he was shocked, but this time it was different, it wasn't as painful. Still, as he swam through the stream and into the pipes leading outside, he felt really strange, like his body was changing somehow. The further he swam, the more it felt like he was moving through the water more easily, like he was becoming a part of it.

After what felt like hours, Ryan emerged from the pipes and washed up on dry land. He coughed, noting that his voice sounded weird, like it was deeper and lower. He must've been full of water. He looked back and saw that Rexton Labs was still on fire, and there was no sign of either his lackeys or Seth.

_Serves them all right for screwing with me._

Off in the distance, Ryan heard police and fire department sirens approaching.

_Well, they took their time. At least I high-tailed it outta dodge before I could get caught for this._

Pleased with himself, Ryan allowed himself a spiteful bout of laughter. However, when he looked at himself to check for injuries and saw himself, his laughter turned into a blood-curdling scream.

—

Seth found himself awake, and surprisingly, not in a whole of pain. He sat up and looked around. He was far away from the lab, out in park on a hill overlooking the lab. He looked out at the lab and saw that the police had arrived, as well as the fire department, who were already starting to put out the fire. He sprung up, with an astonishing amount of vitality, and figuring he better get out of there before the authorities found him, he dashed off toward his home with a speed that he never knew he had. For someone who had just been hit by lightning, he felt like he could sprint the whole way home. As he ran off, he hoped that there would at least be something for his dad to salvage his project. More to the point though, he tried not to think about how he was in a universe of trouble. He tried to think about if the cops would be able to connect him to what when down tonight. He tried not to think about if Ryan or the other guys got out in time. He tried not to think about how even he got out. But mostly, he tried not to think about that scream that was rattling through the night air and chilling him to the bone.


End file.
